1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spool for cords or wires made of metal, plastic or the like, and in particular welding wires. The spool has several one-piece segments, each forming a U-shaped wire yoke extending inwardly in radial planes. The free ends of the legs of this yoke have extensions extending in the circumferential direction and are placed against one another to form two parallel wire rings.
2. The Prior Art
DE 25 03 567 C2 discloses a known spool that can be manufactured simply and inexpensively with a low number of welds to join the segments together. With this spool, the cross bridges between the legs of the U-shaped wire yokes form the support for the wires to be wound, i.e., the winding core is formed by these bridges. When the diameter ratio between the winding core and the central spool hub diameter reach a certain order of magnitude, adapters are used, which permit the spool to be plugged onto a matching running axle.
Furthermore, DE 28 14 057 A1, discloses a spool which is assembled from individual single-piece segments, whereby both the diameter of the winding core and a central spool hub diameter are formed by these segments. However, the drawback of this known spool is that the segments forming the spool require four welding spots for connecting two of such segments. The placement of the welding spots is made difficult by their local position and, therefore, requires more sophisticated welding equipment. Furthermore, the design of the segments results in increased material consumption. Furthermore, this construction is disadvantageous in that it is not suitable for larger spools for stability reasons.